There are a lot of things in this world that smell really bad. But…let me tell you, there is nothing that smells worse than my daughters soccer goalie gloves. Especially when they are soaking wet. Last weekend, my daughter had a soccer tournament. I’d love to say it was sunny and warm, but it wasn’t. While the temp was warm, it was like a monsoon out there. Not. Even. Joking. It was the hardest rain I have seen in a long time. She was soaked; her gloves were soaked; she had puddles IN her shoes; and the smell on the ride home was horrendous. We needed to dry those soccer goalie gloves quickly…she had another game that day.

*This post may contain affiliate links*

Do you see how soaking wet that child is? Thankfully we had a waterproof stadium blanket in the car for her to sit on. By the time we got home, there was probably about 3/4 of a cup of water on top of that stadium blanket! Her goalie shorts have pads in them…so you can imagine how much water those shorts were holding!

How to Dry Soccer Goalie Gloves

We needed to figure out how to get those goalie gloves dry as quickly as possible. We got home about 11 am and she had another game at 5:20 pm that evening. If you haven’t purchased soccer goalie gloves before, they are expensive, especially since she moved up to the adult sizes. So, going out and purchasing a new pair was not really something we wanted to. Not to mention, they were bound to get all wet all over again in the evening.

So…What Did We Do?

In the past, we have used a glove dryer that sits on the heating vent, to dry her gloves. It’s as gross as it sounds, but you do what you need to do. However, the temperature was one that the air or heat was not needed. What does my husband do? He rigs up something with that glove dryer to not only dry her gloves, but her shoes too!

Guess what?? It totally worked! Her gloves were completely dried in no time, as well as her shoes. I hate to see what our electric bill is going to be with running the shop vac like that for a little bit, but it was worth it. There was no way we could send her to her 5pm game with wet shoes and gloves.

So How Did They Do In the 5pm Game?

They did so well. Unfortunately, the monsoon was back and it dumped on these girls again. The field was already squishy from the rain earlier and the game ended up getting called early with about 20 minutes left to play. It was unfortunate, but this girl played her heart out and saved an amazing penalty kick!

Those socks she is wearing in the picture were bright white when she started the game! This glove drying rack is something everyone should have. Not only does it dry soccer goalie gloves, but it is excellent to use in the winter time with snow gloves and hats!

One thing I make every single week is my egg muffins recipe. If you haven’t tried them yet, you need to! They are not difficult to make and they give you a quick and easy option for those breakfasts on the go. What if I told you that you could freeze egg muffins to make your life even easier?!? You totally can!

*This post may contain affiliate links*

How to Freeze Egg Muffins

In exactly one week, I will be having knee surgery. My husband will be taking over ALL of the day to day duties. While no one makes my life easier with the crazy schedules I deal with, I do want to make things a bit easier for him. Not only will he be working still, but he will be taking care of me, getting the kids to school and doing the other day to day jobs that I won’t be able to do for a bit.

One of those ways I want to help him out is by making a bunch of things and having it in the freezer ready to go. As you know, I am following Weight Watchers (WW) right now and I want to make sure I have my food ready so I can stay on plan while I am recovering. These egg muffins will help me stay on plan! Having the ability to freeze the egg muffins will really help us both out!

When you freeze egg muffins, you want to make sure you follow the steps below to a T. Not following them may give you results you don’t want (chewy, rubbery eggs. Blech).

Allow your egg muffins to completely cool ALL THE WAY after cooking.

Once cooled, individually wrap each egg muffin in plastic wrap and then wrap in tin foil.

Reheating Your Frozen Egg Muffins

I will be completely honest…I was very skeptical that the frozen egg muffins would reheat well. In fact, I almost asked my son to try it first before I did! However, they tasted excellent! I think the key is to reheat them while they are frozen. Simply unwrap the foil and plastic wrap and place in the microwave. Reheat for about 1 minute 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Enjoy!

One of the things my husband and I like to do is talk about our future. Don’t most married couples do that? For example, one thing we’ve always said is when my husband retires, we are going to sell our house, get an RV and travel the United States. Right now, we don’t travel a lot due to the kids crazy sports schedules, but believe me, I have a travel bucket list ready! Do you?

*This post may contain affiliate links*

Travel Bucket List

If someone were to ask you what your dream vacation was, what would you say? For me, my dream vacation is not some exotic, foreign country. While it would be nice, I really, really want to see all 50 states. I want to see all the hot spots; all the must see places in my own country. That’s not to say I wouldn’t be thrilled with a vacation to Iceland or something!

The nice thing about this FREE Travel Bucket List printable is that you and your husband can sit down and fill it out together. If you really wanted to make it fun, each of you fill out your own sheet, have your kids fill one out and compare lists. Do you have similar tastes in vacations? I know my list will be filled with places in the United States, whereas my husbands would be filled with countries all over the world. As for the kids, I am sure their’s would be filled all the locations their YouTubers have their videos!

My Favorite Vacation

Like I’ve said before, I prefer to travel within the United States. I want to see all of this country we live in. One of my favorite vacations was when my husband and I took our kids to Arkansas to visit Crater of Diamond State Park. It was the one vacation that, as we were driving home, the kids asked if we could go back again the following year. If you haven’t been there…GO! It’s a 37 acre park where you can dig for diamonds! Whatever you find, you can keep! The kids (and us parents too) had a blast!

Please leave me a comment telling me about YOUR favorite vacation ever! I’d love to see where you all have gone and maybe add another place or two to my list!

In almost every home, at least one appliance stands out like a sore thumb. While upgrading seems like a daunting task, it’s no longer necessary to invest in new appliances for a kitchen makeover. Old, ugly appliances can get a facelift with a few simple tricks. The following innovative ideas can give a new look to those appliances and bring sparkle and fun to the home.

Apply Colorful Paint

For as little as $20, appliances can get a new facelift. You’ll have a few options for painting appliance, and, of course, painting depends on the type of appliance and individual preferences. Epoxy paint can be sprayed or painted on, and it normally has self-priming built in, which makes it easy to apply. Use regular spray paint and apply a layer of enamel gloss protective spray. If the appliance heats up, such as an oven or radiator, make sure to invest in a specialty heat-resistant product.

Create a Magnet Board

Collect old photos, cartoons, or other images, and grab some magnetic strips to make easy refrigerator magnets. Laminate the pictures to make them last longer, then get ready to get creative. This family activity can enable you to get your kids involved in the fun. What do you do if you don’t have any old photos? Use a Polaroid camera for a photo shoot or order prints of Instagram photos for this design idea.

Use Chalkboard Paint

Available in a full rainbow of colors, chalkboard paint will totally change the look of an appliance and give it a new functional dimension. Go with classic black or white and provide a few chalk options nearby. It will become an accessible option for writing grocery lists, reminder notes, or inspirational quotes.

Hide Them

You can discover plenty of innovative ways to subtly hide a radiator, washing machine, or other appliance. Room dividers can be folded to a 90-degree angle and used to block the view of an appliance. Hanging a sliding door, or track door, can create a beautiful hiding space. This approach works great for exposed water heaters as well. However, be sure not to cover up any of the important mechanics and leave it easily accessible for repairs.

Sticker It Up

Try colorful masking tape or stickers to create a new style. Washi tape (similar to masking tape, but with designs and colors) has recently risen in popularity for home kitchen makeovers. Add stars, polka dots, or stripes for a more geometric design and pop of visual interest.

While you can explore endless ways to add color and flair to old ugly appliances, the ideas presented above are some of the best. Whatever the DIY upgrade, remember to regularly service you appliances. Keeping them safe and well-functioning is more important than appearances alone.

If you’ve been following along, you will know that, over the course of the last three years, I have really been making improvements in my life. I was able to successfully get rid of my sugar addiction. It wasn’t easy, but what was easy was physically feeling how much better I felt without the sugar. The one vice I still had was my Diet Coke habit. I’m finally at the point in my life that I want to break that habit.

*This post may contain affiliate links*

As you know, my husband and I embarked on a new lifestyle a few years ago. The Keto diet helped us lose a combined 215 lbs. We felt better, looked better, it has been amazing. Recently, we decided to change things up a bit and give Weight Watchers a try. I had been stuck in a place of not losing so I wanted to jumpstart my body and give a new lifestyle a change for a bit, while hanging on to a lot of the principles that I learned from doing the Keto diet for so long.

While I felt like I mastered the ability to not want or care about sugar any longer, I was still not great about drinking enough water. I am amazing at drinking Diet Coke. I could drink that stuff all day long, like it was water. That’s one of the main reasons I don’t buy a case of pop at Sam’s Club to have at home. I would drink way too much per day. It was time to break that Diet Coke habit.

Breaking the Diet Coke Habit

As addicted to sugar as I was, I am probably more addicted to Diet Coke. I don’t drink coffee, so my only source of caffeine comes from pop. Believe me, I wish I liked coffee. For many reasons. The caffeine being one of them, but also so I can drink out of fun coffee mugs like this mug. But more than needing caffeine to get through each day, or wanting to drink out of fun coffee mugs, I need to up my water intake.

Back before I started the Keto diet, I was really into Young Living essential oils. I still use the oils for things, but not like I did. That changes now! One of the ways I got my water in then, was putting my favorite Young Living essential oils in my water. Not only did the flavor help, but the oils are good for you!

Why Essential Oils?

Grapefruit essential oil (my favorite) is very high in D-Limonene. If you are not sure what D-Limonene is or what it is good for, check this out. While all of those benefits are great, I like that it makes my water taste good, as well as benefit my health at the same time. As a side note though, not all essential oils are created equally. I would only add Young Living oils to my water (and only those approved for ingesting). Other Young Living essential oils that I like to add to my water are lemon, orange, and lime.

So What’s My Plan?

Am I giving up my Diet Coke habit for good? No, probably not. I want to break the habit of feeling like I “need” a Diet Coke to get through my day. Which, let me tell you, I’ve been up since 5 am and I’ve yet to have any caffeine and I’m still wide awake! However, with that said, I see the Diet Coke habit the same as I used to see my sugar addiction. I want to get to the point that I don’t care about whether or not I have it. Once I get to that point, then I know I can have a pop and it won’t trigger me to have more, just like I can have a piece of candy and not eat another for days, weeks or months. To me, that would be breaking the Diet Coke habit.

Current Giveaways!

FYI

All links on this site may be affiliate links and should be considered as such. Diaries of a Domestic Goddess is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. See our privacy policy for more information.